January 14, 2015

Tattoo-like sensor can detect glucose levels without a painful finger prick




Scientists have developed the first ultra-thin, flexible device that sticks to skin like a rub-on tattoo and can detect a person’s glucose levels. The sensor, reported in a proof-of-concept study in the ACS journal Analytical Chemistry, has the potential to eliminate finger-pricking for many people with diabetes.

Joseph Wang and colleagues in San Diego note that diabetes affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Many of these patients are instructed to monitor closely their blood glucose levels to manage the disease.